


Asphyxiation

by watcherofworlds



Series: Whumptober 2019 [19]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Flashbacks, Nightmares, PTSD trigger, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prompt Fill, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 12:24:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21118754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: Prompt fill for Whumptober Day 19 "Asphyxiation"





	Asphyxiation

**Author's Note:**

> I know that asphyxiation and suffocation are not synonymous,but this is the idea that came to me, and I ran with it

_ Oliver couldn’t breathe. His lungs burned with the need to take in air, but the only thing he took in with each inhale was sea water. He was drowning, and the surface seemed so impossibly far above him. He sank further and further down, closer and closer to the bottom of the sea. And as his struggles for breath grew weaker and his vision began to go black, one thought overrode his despair- he didn’t want to die. _

_ Mustering up what little strength remained to him, Oliver made for the surface, his legs pumping frantically, propelling him upward through the water until his head broke the surface at last. He took in enormous, gasping breaths, treading water frantically in a desperate attempt to keep himself afloat while the driving rain lashed his face and the churning waves tossed him around like a toy. _

_ “Sara!” he screamed, searching in vain for her in the pitch black of the stormy night. “Sara!” _

“Oliver!” Felicity’s voice jerked him free of the dream, like a yank on the end of the tether that kept him connected to reality. He was lying in their bed, a thunderstorm raging outside, wind howling and lashing rain against the window. In the few minutes before reality set back in, Oliver felt the bed moving beneath him like he was still being tossed around on that tempest swept sea, and he couldn’t breathe. He gasped desperately for air, sure that he was still drowning.

“Where did you go?” Felicity asked when full awareness returned to him at last and he’d managed to get his breath back, her voice soft and laced with concern and empathy.

“To the night the Gambit sank,” Oliver replied, breathing hard as the memories threatened to overwhelm him again. “When the boat tipped sideways and the water came rushing in… I was pulled under. And then, before I managed to reach the surface, I was drowning. I couldn’t breathe.” He knew that it had been a dream, that that moment was long past, but he felt his breath hitch in his chest just the same.

“Because of the storm,” Felicity said. It wasn’t a question- she’d learned fairly early on in their relationship exactly what storms did to him.

“Yes,” Oliver agreed. “But it’s- it’s never been this bad before. I’m sorry to have put you through that.”

“You didn’t put me through anything,” Felicity told him, her voice fierce and fervent despite its low volume. “I accepted this as part of you a long time ago. It doesn’t trouble me, except for how much it makes my heart ache for what you’ve been through.” Oliver listened to the sound of the storm for a moment, to the rumble of thunder and the howl of the wind and the drumming of the rain against the window, and struggled not to slip into traumatic memories again.

“Go to sleep, Oliver,” Felicity murmured, gently but forcefully rolling him over onto his side to face her and pulling him close. “ _ Rest _ . I’m right here. Everything will be fine.”


End file.
